The Meaning of Rain
by DrummerDancer
Summary: Rain meant a lot of things to Edward Elric.


Title: The Meaning of Rain  
Author: drummerdancer  
Verse: None  
Characters/Pairings: Ed, Roy, Al  
Word Count: 1000  
Prompt 02: Rain  
Rating: T  
Summary: Rain meant a lot of things to Edward Elric.

* * *

Rain meant many things to Edward Elric.

Rain meant slick sidewalks and wet roads, surfaces that were easy to slip on when you were in a hurry and tricky even if you weren't.

Rain meant, "Get under that awning, Al!" as innocent liquid threatened to seep into hollow armor and destroy a blood seal that was only ever meant to be temporary and that was starting to fade anyway, with its eventual conclusion knocking on their door.

Rain meant failure, a night stormy with bad alchemy and blood as Ed lost not only his brother's body, but also, his remaining hope that he could bring his mother back as well.

Rain meant, "She was your _daughter_, damnit!" as the remains of a little girl and her dog overwhelmed an alleyway with stink, grief, and loss.

Rain meant dinner-less nights spent in bed, clutching at ports so painful, Edward wished to stop breathing—if only to escape the pain for just a little while, _anything to stop the pain…_

Rain meant Al having to go up to headquarters _("Take an umbrella and a poncho, Al, and do __**not **__get your blood seal wet—you hear me?") _and tell the colonel his brother couldn't hand in his report today, and no, it wasn't because Ed wasn't done or because he couldn't reach a pencil sharpener or because he was lost in the library again…

Rain meant seeing the colonel anyway _("Stupid prick.")_ and having to fein fever instead of phantom limb pain, for the former prevented the colonel from entering his room while the later did not.

Rain meant exhaling in relief when he left, even though part of Ed wish he'd stayed so he could have real hands massaging his ports instead of clumsy leather gauntlets that couldn't feel when they applied too much pressure or dug into the skin hovering above a screw, causing white-steel pain to flash behind eyelids as Ed clenched his teeth and thought _don't scream don't scream don't scream…_

Rain meant worry (and, much much later, when nobody with a brain would dare be awake, watery-liquid crap that did _not_ come from his eyes) over whether or not Al could really, _truly_ be returned, and what happened if they found out it was impossible and would Al ever forgive him if Ed traded himself and _would it be enough and…?_

Rain meant more watery-crap. Shit he was _not_ crying…

Rain meant waking up the next morning with bags big-enough-to-put-things-in under his eyes, purple and heavy and gross-looking.

Rain meant splashing a bunch of the liquid stuff in his face, until his skin looked semi-normal and he could pass it off as being kinda tired instead of bone-deep _drained_ from staying up too late waiting for Al to shut off for the night.

Rain meant the streets still had puddles in them that morning, puddles small enough for Al to cross but big enough for Ed to pout and stomp and finally walk around, saying it wasn't worth it to get his pants wet this early in the day and he wasn't _short_, damnit!

Rain meant snickers from the office when Ed and Al eventually made it to the office, Al dry and shiny, Ed muddy and waterlogged from the knees down, muttering something dark and sinister about optical allusions and puddles and Al tricking him, though nobody in the office could quite believe the validity of the last part.

Rain meant scolding and reprimanding from the colonel when Ed fell down on his office couch, wet boots and all planted firmly on the seat opposite him, a '_you __**really**__ don't want to mess with me right now'_ attitude plastered squarely on his face as he stared at him.

And then…

Rain _should've_ meant even _more_ scolding when Ed produced a wrinkled report with slanted writing and a clear attempt at the other hand midway through the first page, but…

Instead it meant the colonel took it and turned away from him, staring out the window instead.

Ed _should've_ gotten up and left after that, but this was out of the norm, out of the pattern. Was he meant to pick up where the colonel dropped the baton and pretend this anomaly never happened, or did this situation dictate an entirely new set rules, ones that Ed didn't know about?

He got up, looking at his two options before his feet said _Fuck it_ and walked over to the colonel. Up beside him, shoulder-to-shoulder—Ed looked to his face before following his line of sight outside. A boy and a girl, little _little_ kids, had one of those balls schools always have on playgrounds—the ones that rebound when you throw them against something. They were bouncing one to one another, straight into a puddle that separated them, spraying polluted Central City rain water all over their faces and clothes.

They were smiling as Ed flinched.

"Hope they didn't swallow any of that," Ed said, glancing over to the colonel.

The colonel didn't respond, making Ed wonder if his new rules weren't the _right_ rules, or maybe this blip in their track record was _Mustang's_ fault and not his, except it was _always_ Ed's fault and—

"You know, Edward. Some people walk in the rain…and others simply get wet."

Deeply confused _(is he insulting my height?),_ Ed gaped, loose-jawed. Mustang chuckled beside him, placing a hand on the port separating skin from metal underneath his clothes.

"It's not the rain's fault that it falls down—it simply does not know how to fall upwards."

_(Okay, that was a __**definite **__height insult, I know it!)_ Ed glared but Mustang wasn't looking at him anymore, but back to the two kids on the street playing with their ball.

Their smiles reflected off the puddle.

Edward shook his head and left.

Rain meant many things to Edward Elric…but childishness wasn't one of them.


End file.
